Mariusz P. had been convicted multiple times of burglaries and robberies. He spent a large part of his adult life in prison. Most recently, he served 5 years and 6 months, partly for robbery involving a dangerous weapon. He left prison in March 2014.

After his release, Mariusz P. continued to steal. On February 22, 2015, on Dębowa Street in Polkowice, he stole a VW Golf worth PLN 900. He abandoned the car on March 10 of that year after a collision with an Audi.

On March 26 of that year, he robbed a neighbor from the same village, taking 100 liters of diesel fuel and eight wheels with aluminum rims worth a total of PLN 2,300 from his storage shed. He subsequently installed the wheels, among other places, on his own vehicle.

On April 4, 2015, Mariusz P. drank alcohol with a friend. This did not stop him from getting behind the wheel. Near Trzebcz, municipal police officers from Polkowice noticed a vehicle being driven erratically. They signaled the driver to stop, but he did not react; instead, he began fleeing, exceeding the speed limit and reaching 120 km/h. The officers gave chase and simultaneously called the police.

A police car soon arrived. The officers used lights and sirens to order Mariusz P. to stop, and when he failed to respond, they attempted to overtake the car. The defendant blocked the police cars, braked sharply and tried to force them off the road.

Near Tarnówek, the police nevertheless overtook his vehicle and forced it to stop. A Ford Transit Custom belonging to the municipal police stopped behind Mariusz P.’s VW Golf. Despite this, Mariusz P. tried to engage reverse and escape.

At that point, one of the police officers ran up to the car, smashed a window and put his hand inside to remove the keys from the ignition. Mariusz P. was also ordered to leave the vehicle. He ignored the order. He began wrestling with the officer and then suddenly reversed, dragging him behind the car. After traveling several meters, he struck the municipal police Ford Transit, whose driver was just getting out. His maneuver forced a second officer standing in front of the damaged vehicle to jump aside.

Mariusz P. did not stop pressing the accelerator and struck the municipal police vehicle twice more. Immediately afterward, the defendant changed gears and suddenly drove forward. To get around a vehicle belonging to the Polkowice District Police Headquarters, he drove straight at a police officer blocking his way. The officer jumped aside at the last moment.

As a result of the maneuver, Mariusz P. broke through the blockade and continued fleeing. The defendant was arrested in Tarnówek. A test showed that Mariusz P.’s exhaled air contained 1.53 mg/l of alcohol (3.06‰). His passenger, Leszek Sz., was found to have 1.37 mg/l of alcohol (2.74‰).

During the arrest, Leszek Sz. verbally insulted one of the police officers.

The municipal police vehicle was damaged in the collisions, with losses exceeding PLN 2,800. The officer who was getting out of the car at the time suffered a cervical spine sprain resulting in impaired bodily functions for more than seven days. The police officer who was dragged behind the vehicle suffered abrasions to his elbow and knee, resulting in impaired bodily functions for less than seven days.

After these events, non-custodial preventive measures were applied to Mariusz P. However, when, just four days later, on April 8, 2015, he again stole a car in Polkowice—this time a VW Jetta worth PLN 1,500, after first smashing a window—and hid it on a property in Chocianów, the prosecutor, after P. was arrested on April 13 of that year, petitioned the court for his pre-trial detention, which the court ordered.

Mariusz P. was charged with two counts of burglary, one theft, an active assault on public officials using a dangerous weapon in order to force them to abandon a lawful official duty—namely, his arrest—as well as causing bodily injuries to two officers, driving under the influence of alcohol and property damage. The defendant committed all these offenses under single or multiple recidivism, which increases criminal liability by half.

Mariusz P., who remains in pre-trial detention, faces up to 15 years in prison for the crimes committed. His 47-year-old friend Leszek Sz. was charged with insulting an officer. He faces up to one year in prison.

The case will be heard by the District Court in Lubin.

Legnica Regional Prosecutor’s Office/ii